Kimi Raikkonen to test Peugeot's Le Mans car with a view to a 2012 deal

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Raikkonen to test Peugeot's Le Mans car with a view to a 2012 deal

Kimi Raikkonen will test the Peugeot 908 Le Mans car at Spanish circuit Motorland Aragon on Wednesday.

It is understood that it could lead to a possible outing in next year's Le Mans 24 Hours, with Peugeot keen to evaluate Raikkonen's speed in the car.

Raikkonen has admitted that he is keen on competing at Le Mans, but if he was to do so, he would want an expanded programme of races for the marque.

"It would be great to do Le Mans," Raikkonen told Finland's Turun Sanomat. "But if you race there, you should do some races as a test as well. It could be tricky to get all the schedules working well."

Peugeot has previously tested seven-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb and is keen to run high-profile drivers at Le Mans, as it did when 1997 Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve was in its line-up in 2007 and '08.

PSA Peugeot Citroen management board member Jean-Marc Gales declined to confirm Raikkonen's test, but admitted that it was possible and that a race seat could be on the cards if he was fast enough.

"I don't exclude that [Raikkonen testing the car], " Gales told AUTOSPORT. "But nothing has been decided on our pilots for Peugeot for next year.

"Clearly, it depends how fast he is and I can't comment on that because we haven't done it yet."

Source: Autosport